Rally Argentina had it all: more twists than The Da Vinci Code, gravel roads rougher than the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and a spectacular finish tenser than a violin bow, with Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville winning by less than a second from Ford privateer Elfyn Evans on the final stage. Red Bull TV was there to cover it all, fronted as always by presenter Mike Chen.

Mike has been around a bit when it comes to the World Rally Championship: in fact, he’s even given rally driving a go himself. So he knows a good WRC driver when he sees one – although apparently, he’s not about to give up his day job quite yet. Here are Mike’s top five drivers on Rally Argentina: the toughest and most unpredictable event of the year so far.

1. Elfyn Evans. “The young Welshman showed incredible pace throughout the rally and demonstrated exceptional maturity considering the pressure he was under. His career has had so many ups and downs, but this was his best performance yet and definitely the start of something special.

He’s a fantastic guy, so absolutely everyone in the service park was delighted to see him perform so strongly. There were no special gifts here: he fought for every second with genuine pace on Rally Argentina. He may have just missed out on a first victory, but expect to see much more from him in future.”

2. Thierry Neuville. “After a disappointing start to the year, when he crashed out of the lead twice in Monte-Carlo and Sweden, it’s all starting to come good for Thierry. He lost a lot of time with a puncture on Friday but absolutely refused to let that get him down and just kept pushing all the way to the finish.

The way that he reeled in Elfyn at the end of the rally to win was so impressive, setting up a spectacular finish, and there’s no doubt that Thierry is now one of the favourites – perhaps even the favourite – for this year’s title.”

3. Ott Tanak. “It’s not often that you see four-time champion Sebastien Ogier get out-paced in a straight fight, in the same car, but that’s exactly what the young Estonian did: beating the one driver who everyone measures themselves against.

Ott had a scintillating Saturday and carried that pace through to Sunday as well, claiming yet another podium to demonstrate that he’s got the consistency to match his obvious speed. He was really clever this weekend, and that cleverness has paid off.”

4. Jari-Matti Latvala. “So, his Toyota is brand new this year and still needs work, but maybe Jari-Matti hasn’t noticed! He was absolutely flying on the first day, getting every ounce of performance out of the Yaris WRC, until he hit a puncture and an engine problem that dropped him down the order.

Had he not experienced those problems, I’m sure he would have been fighting for the top three. Again. Which isn't what you expect from a new entry. What Toyota and Jari-Matti have done so far this year is amazing.”

5. Kris Meeke. “This may sound like a strange choice after he had two massive accidents, but hear me out. With the crash on day one and the amount of damage to the car, it was a testament to the team and to Kris to get back out on day two and immediately take two stage wins.

It’s not about how you get knocked down, but about how quickly you get back up again. Although he then had what was probably the biggest shunt of his career on stage 14, I’m sure Kris will get back in the car in Portugal with the same attitude: flat out 100% of the time. That’s what makes him so spectacular to watch; you can tell that Colin McRae played a massive part in his career!”

Catch all the highlights of Rally Argentina on Red Bull TV tonight at 22:00 (local Argentina time) to see why Mike has made his choices.

And if you’re not in South America and don’t feel like waking up in the middle of the night, all the programmes from Rally Argentina are also available on demand, meaning you can catch up with the WRC action whenever suits you. Hasta la vista!

Weitere Beiträge

Rally Argentina (27-30 April) – Finish Frustrating on many levels, the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT's weekend in Argentina ended with both cars retiring. The team remains confident in its potential and must now turn its attent more >>

FIA World Rally Championship Argentina Elfyn Evans clung on to his YPF Rally Argentina lead on Saturday. After stretching his advantage to more than a minute on Saturday morning, Evans watched Thierry Neuville whittle it down to just more >>

M-Sport’s Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt continue to lead Rally Argentina behind the wheel of their Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC. With less than 30 seconds separating the top-three in the overall standings, the stage is set for an incredible final-day showdown. more >>

Rally Argentina (27-30 April) – Day 2HARDGENTINA Back in action on day two of Rally Argentina, Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle showed the speed of the Citroën C3 WRC, as they collected two stage wins at the start of the leg. Unfortunately more >>

RALLY ARGENTINA, SECTION SEVENSaturday, April 28th 2017Elfyn Evans (1st) said: “I’ve not been making it too easy for myself this morning! The first stage [SS10] was okay but we didn’t have a great rhythm through t more >>

M-Sport’s Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt have produced a sensational start to this year’s Rally Argentina – claiming six stage victories on their way to a commanding lead at the head of the classification. Proving untouchable, the Brits more >>

FIA World Rally Championship Argentina Rock-strewn gravel roads wrecked the hopes of many frontrunners, but Welshman Evans prospered to win six consecutive speed tests in his Ford Fiesta and lead the similar car of Mads Østberg by 55.7sec. more >>

Rally Argentina (27-30 April) – Day 1Friday, April 28th 2017 Contested on roads between Santa Rosa and San Agustin, stage four of Rally Argentina went dreadfully wrong for the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. Caught out more >>

RALLY ARGENTINA, SECTION FOURFriday, April 28th 2017 Elfyn Evans (1st) said: “It’s been a really good morning for us – and my best ever start to an event. It hasn’t been 100 percent perfect, but we& more >>

Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (FRA), Rally Argentina 2017 Rally Argentina gets underway properly today and Red Bull TV will be there for all 18 stages this weekend. One of the main features of today’s ral more >>

Rally Argentina (27-30 April) – Shakedown Round five of the World Championship, Rally Argentina, got underway this morning with the traditional shakedown. Preferring not to take any risks on a rapidly-deteriorating road surface, Kris Meeke and Craig B more >>